Illustrative image; it may differ from the actual aircraft.

Vickers 953C Merchantman

VANGUARD-721Scrapped

RegistrationGBG-APES

HUOperatorHunting Cargo Airlines

4operators

0incidents

0accidents

0logbook years

0photos

Vickers 953C Merchantman. Operated for BEA - British European Airways, British Airways, Air Bridge Carriers and Hunting Cargo Airlines. Scrapped.

Vuelopedia is a work in progress: it currently holds about 30% of the information we expect to have by the third quarter of 2027. Although we use only official, highly reliable sources, some aircraft data and history may still contain errors or inaccuracies. We work hard to clear every anomaly from the records using specialized verification tools.

Technical data

Country of registrationReino Unido

MSN721

VerificationPending check against the official civil register

The model · Vickers Vanguard

Figures for the Vanguard 952 variant, the most representative of the family

Length37.5 m123 ft

Wingspan36.0 m118 ft

Height10.6 m35 ft

Range2,945 km1,590 NMWith a typical passenger load

Cruise speed663 km/h358 ktMach 0.62

Service ceiling9,144 m30,000 ftIt flies above Everest (1.0 times its height)

Maximum take-off weight63,957 kg141,001 lb

Maximum payload25,402 kg56,002 lbIts 108 passengers with baggage would weigh about 10.8 t; the rest is fuel and cargo

Typical capacity108 passengersUp to 139 in a high-density layout

Endurance4 h 27 minAt cruise speed, non-stop

The type first flew in 1959 (67 years ago) · About 44 units built · Production ended in 1962

Figures for the type, not for this particular aircraft: each variant and each configuration changes something. They are shown in both systems used in aviation.

The full story of the Vickers Vanguard Compare this aircraft

Flight logbook

Under research

Aircraft chronology

Jan 24, 1962

Delivered to BEA - British European Airways

Delivered to BEA - British European Airways as G-APES.

Apr 1, 1974

Transferred to British Airways

Transferred to British Airways.

Nov 25, 1976

Transferred to Air Bridge Carriers

Transferred to Air Bridge Carriers.

Operators

1962-01-24

BEA - British European Airways

Registration G-APES

1974-04-01

British Airways

Registration G-APES

1976-11-25

Air Bridge Carriers

Registration G-APES

—

Hunting Cargo Airlines

Registration G-APES

Memories coming soon

The register of memories is not open on this aircraft yet. We are enabling it gradually, record by record, as we consolidate each aircraft's information.

Before opening it we check the aircraft identity — its registration, its serial number and its model — against the civil register of the authority that registered it, so that every memory belongs to the exact aircraft that lived it. When that work reaches this record, the register will open here.

Cite

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This page was last updated on October 10, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 10). Vickers 953C Merchantman · G-APES · Hunting Cargo Airlines. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/VANGUARD-721

MLA

“Vickers 953C Merchantman · G-APES · Hunting Cargo Airlines.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 10 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/VANGUARD-721. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Vickers 953C Merchantman · G-APES · Hunting Cargo Airlines.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 10, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/VANGUARD-721.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Vickers 953C Merchantman · G-APES · Hunting Cargo Airlines. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/VANGUARD-721 (Accessed: 16 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_aircraft_vanguard_721,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Vickers 953C Merchantman · G-APES · Hunting Cargo Airlines}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-10},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/VANGUARD-721},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/VANGUARD-721}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-16},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/aircraft/VANGUARD-721 |title=Vickers 953C Merchantman · G-APES · Hunting Cargo Airlines |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-10 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}